The Root Family

Okay. I was going to digest for a few days, but I should probably just share my news before your imagination gets the best of you. If I had read my cryptic messages, my brain would have jumped to the most dramatic scenarios out there. So here it is:
I am adopted. I am sure most of you knew that. It was not your standard adoption, though. No adoption agency. No planned arrangement. No no. I was born in my birth father's home. No drugs. No medical assistance. Nothing. In fact, my birth parents (who planned on splitting immediately after my birth) went to the nearest public library days before my birth and checked out a midwife guide book. My birth father assisted in my birth. And then proceeded to bring me to the little hospital down the street [in a Smitty's paper bag] where my MOM was working as a nurse. My birth father took off as the nurses at the front desk looked in the bag. And there I was. My birth father eventually showed up with my birth mother, who was having a difficult time recovering from the birth. She looked at my MOM and asked if she knew of anyone that wanted to adopt a baby. It just so happened that my MOM and DAD [who also worked at the same little hospital] were wanting to adopt as they could not have kids of their own. Which is how I know this entire story and all its little details. My birth is one of the most incredible cases of Divine Intervention that I know.
Anyway. Fast forward like 16 years. I beg my parents to let me search for my birth mother. I just want to know who I look like. They agree. I make an account on Adoption.com and leave one post with the names of both of my birth parents. I get a hit two months later. Generally it takes two years [at the very least - and that is with hired professionals]. It is my birth mother's brother. He had no clue about me. He only found my single post on Adoption.com because he was looking for my birth mother who had taken off 5 years prior. Since she, too, is adopted, he wondered if she had interest in finding her birth family. Instead he found me. He reveals information in his message that only my PARENTS and birth parents would know. We know he is not faking. It is a legitimate hit. He sends pictures of my birth mother from ages 2 - 18. There is no doubt whatsoever at this point. I look almost exactly like her. I meet my uncle and grow close with him. He is able to locate my birth mother through a private investigator. My uncle establishes a relationship with her before revealing that he knows about me. She is shocked her secret is out, but wants to meet me. I met my birth mother for the first time the week before Thanksgiving while a senior in high school. One of the strangest experiences of my life. She and I do not have a relationship. Neither of us are really interested. And both of us are okay with it.
Fast forward 6 years. I am pregnant with Joel. I get a text message from my birth mother's brother that she is in the hospital. He treats it like it is no big deal. I tell my MOM, who gets worked up over the situation. Turns out my birth mother is at the hospital my MOM works at. My MOM goes to visit. And befriends my birth mother, so to speak. [BIG side note. My birth mother does not do relationships with people. She does not rely on others or feel the need to make attachments. So when I say that my MOM befriends her, I really mean that it is an exchange between two people with no emotional attachment on my birth mother's end]. I visit once in the hospital with Robert. It is slightly awkward, especially since my birth mother is in isolation and we are required to wear FULL hospital garb to visit. My uncle and I talk a lot during this time. And my MOM visits my birth mother in the hospital regularly [since she is already there at work]. A couple weeks pass and my birth mother is released. She goes and stays at her brother's house. I figure that is the last time I will see her for a while, but am wrong. They show up at my graduation ceremony at ASU several weeks later. THAT is the last time I have seen her.
So what does ANY of this have to do with ANYTHING? Well. Today, as I texted my birth mother's brother for his current address to send a Christmas card, he tells me he has some news for me. My brain jumps to, "Aww. He and his fiance have eloped". Then my brain goes to, "Oh... maybe he and his fiance are expecting". Finally, the briefest thought flits through my mind, "Oh no. Something happened to my birth mother...". What I was not prepared to hear was that I have a brother. It caught me so completely by surprise that I am still having difficulty grasping the concept. I have been an only child my entire life. My PARENTS never adopted another child. My birth mother never had any kids before me or after me. I was a mistake, and she made that clear when we first met (not to make me feel bad or anything, just that the pregnancy was very unplanned and unwanted, for which I am not offended). And because of her personality, I knew that a baby would never be part of her plans. Ever. So hearing that I have a sibling was the last thing that I could have even fathomed happening. His name is Kyle. He lives with his adoptive family in Texas. And on Thursday, December 8th, he turns two. TWO. Which means he is a couple months younger than my second oldest, Lucas. Which also means my birth mother and I were pregnant at the same time. I have always wanted a sibling, as far back as I can remember. Now it turns out that I have one. It is just so much to take in. I hope to meet him one day. If only to see what he looks like.
So there you have it. My information bomb. The reason I cannot concentrate or think clearly right now. My 26 years of not having a sibling have changed in an instant. And I am happy about it.